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Susquehanna Tioga Pike and Northern Tier

This is a nice historical day trip from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the site of our 2011 Rally.

The gps file will be placed at the end of the report.

The Upper Susquehanna Valley was part of Pennsylvania that Charles II of England granted to William Penn and the land that Connecticut had previously claimed. In 1792 The Decree of Trenton resolved this dispute and granted Penn heirs all land up to 42 degrees north latitude. Penn divided the area into three counties Chester, Berks and Northumberland by the time the white settlers were in numbers to govern them.

To reach beyond the colonies to the western frontier, settlers followed the Indian trials and warrior paths. These existing trails were fit only for walking due to fallen timber, heavy underbrush, murky swamps in the narrow valleys choked with laurel and hemlock as they lead to deep hollows to high mountain ridges. With progress, trade was established along these trails that were improved enough for a wagon and making them part of Pennsylvania's tapestry of roads.

Ones northwest journey began in Philadelphia by using the Lehigh River to reach the 1746 established Moravian mission settlement called Gnadenhutten ( Cabins of Grace ) in present day Leighton, then traveling up stream along the Leigh River to Mauch Chunk ( Jim Thorpe ). Jim Thorpe's location was ideal and later it became a hub for the Leigh Canal in 1829 linking the coal industry to Easton on the Delaware River and points southeast ending in Philadelphia. Once in Jim Thorpe one traveled the Pike to Berwick over the densely forested mountains that is now State Route 93. This Pike was completed in 1789, permitting commerce and allowing immigrants access to the frontier. After 1813, this route generally became the Susquehanna and Lehigh Turnpike, terminating at Nescopeck where we begin our journey.

Please be careful driving through this town, the posted speed limit is 25 and its strictly enforced.

Nescopeck is a small river town that supports commercial farming and many sand and gravel operations. It is the birth place of Peter F. Rothermel a land surveyor who turned to painting. He best known for The Battle of Gettysburg still used by academics in civil war studies.

In 1769, Evan Owen purchased land ten miles north of Bloomsburg and west across the river from Nescopeck in what is now Berwick and by 1780 a town emerged. It was initially called Owensville, and later named for Owens’s birthplace, Berwick Upon Tweed, England. To this day there are Berwick to Berwick student exchange programs with the twin towns.

Berwick was incorporated in 1818, that same year the completion of a covered bridge across the Susquehanna connecting Berwick and Nescopeck allowing faster travel along this important Pike.

Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 02:15 PM.
Reason: Link repair

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

Berwick is best known for its American Car and Foundry Company, its products carried freight, passengers and their tanks blazed a trail to liberty.

Berwick-built tanks have fought on every battlefield in World War II. They were with the British Eighth Army in the earliest days of desert fighting in Libya; with General Montgomery's troops in their historic pursuit of Rommel in his 1500 mile's flight across Africa; and leading the victorious Eighth Army in it's triumphal march into Tripoli. They joined the first American Forces with the British in North Africa after the Casablanca landing and were storming the beaches at Salerno. In the Pacific, they landed with the Marines on Guadalcanal in the Solomons, on Buna, New Guinea, and served with the Aussies in the Land Down Under. High up in the Arctic Circle they fought in the Aleutians; with the Russians in the Caucasus before Stalingrad; and in Brazil, they helped to guard the gateway to the South Atlantic.....Guy C. Beishline, District Manager of A.C. & F Company

Today the Foundry is parted out to many different fabrication operations and shadows Crispin Field the home of the the Berwick High School Bulldogs.

Even on a hot mid August Saturday morning the Dawgs draw a small crowd during a scrimmage, shown here playing Bethlehem Liberty the 2008 AAA State Football Champion.

Pennsylvania high school football is exciting and each region will say theirs offers the best football. In the coal region and Susquehanna Valley, Mount Carmel Area's 778 wins, represents the most wins in the State of Pennsylvania and ranks them fourth in the nation. Southern High School in Catawissa claims " There is no substitute for strength and no excuse for the lack of it " owns six state titles and twelve Eastern Pennsylvania Single A Championships since the State Playoff system began in 1988. Selinsgrove, Pottsville, Danville and teams in the north coal fields have claimed dominance from time to time and its usually anyone's game come Friday Night.

Berwick too has a storied history and dominated the area's football scene as being the team to beat for 30 years, they were recognised by USA Today as National Champions in 1983, 1992 and 1995 and the program insisted on playing public and private schools larger than them. During their 3 National title seasons they played top ranked programs during tournaments and play-offs to validate their ranking. Their winning ways have been brought the attention of ABC's Nightline for two episodes. Their winningest coach retired in 2005 and the program is now mandated by the PIAA governance to play only Triple A programs along with adjusting to a new coach which is best because the team is just a tiny shadow of their former selves. But come Friday Night Lights the town of ten thousand will pack the stadium and cheer their team on. For many it has been a great asset to play for them, The Berwick players have graced all the top schools and their educational opportunities reached far beyond the glowing lights of the foundry. As Coach Curry the winningest coach in Pennsylvania would say " If schools are coming here to look at you, you better have the academics to play for them".

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Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 02:19 PM.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

Berwick as its neighboring town Bloomsburg to the south is industrious, the town has historical foundry and fabrication enterprises, in early times it produced wagons and carriages, it was the home of the Multiplex Automobile 1912-13 the competitor to the Matheson from Forty Fort, Pennsylvania known for the first overhead valved engine. Berwick offered numerous store fronts to support the Pennsylvania Canal and the Warriors Path known today as Route 11 and was home to Wise Potato Chips and Vaughn's Bakery, now the site for the Berwick Brewing Company . Other major employers are Decorative Ribbon whose product is most likely displayed on a tree or special event in your hometown, a Nuclear Power plant just north of town and the community hospital and public school system. The towns location will provide dining opportunities during your rally experience, at least stop by the micro brewery.

As you continue on the Pike through Berwick you will see a nice mixture of the single family homes and green spaces where children seem to play football year round. The Berwick community is very involved with their youth, they have many civic and community programs, scouting is popular and they are proud of their heritage and what they offered to the ages. They match or rallies theme very well.

The Jackson Mansion, now Borough Hall. This Victorian mansion was conceived by Col. Clarence G. Jackson while he was confined in the Confederate Libby prison during the Civil War. The mansion was built with Vermont stone and hand crafted woodwork, it features ten bedrooms and three bathrooms with running water a rare luxury for the time. Jackson's family owned the first foundry in Berwick which went on to become the American Car and Foundry enterprise. This site may offer a tours during our rally event and its worth a peek.

The Pike construction started in Berwick and went north until completion in Elmira, New York in 1825. Once you enter Berwick continue northward on North Market Street a wide boulevard that continues onward to become Summerville Avenue then Foundryville Road. A very nice sweeper starts your ascend out of town, and the road will be called Summerhill Road all the way to the top of Huntington ( Jonestown ) Mountain.

This area is often used for Berwicks storied Run For the Diamonds that began 101 years ago with runners coming from as far away as New York City in the early days and today it draws internationally.

The Run for the Diamonds in 1914, George Holden of NYC lead the way on the one and a half mile hill climb, that year there were 20,000 onlookers. Shown also in the photo are Nick Grannokopulis and Arthur Jamieson.

There was once a nice lookout on mountain but today the trees have reclaimed the side or the road so the great views can only be seen during the colder months.

After a nice descent you enter the small town of Jonestown. Continue straight up Ridge Road, its a funny twisted dog legged climb and as you round the bend the Tioga Pike will be a quick right turn. It then travels through a nice hollow. In this area its twisty roads going up or down the hills and two long straights through the productive farmlands as you pass the small towns.

The small towns began as shanty towns serving the Pike construction to accommodate the workers. Some of those workers took land as payment and entered the farming profession that their descendants continue today. With progress came the grist mills, a general store, the stage coach boarding houses and inns, and various churches. Each town is very small yet supportive of community needs.

In Cambra there is an old boarding house, a stop for fresh stage coach horses and weary travelers, now a private home. Next to that is an old abandoned general store that once carried farm impliment parts for my Uncle's dire needs..

The Pike will then meet with State Route 118 at Red Rock and it continue straight up the mountain on Route 487. The Red Rock Store is very busy supporting the new Natural Gas industry and those enjoying Ricketts Glen State Park.The first twenty miles or so of the turnpike from Berwick to Long Pond just north of Red Rock are fairly straightforward. The road left Berwick following our route north 8 miles over Lee Mountain and Huntington Mountain, through Jonestown, then on SR 1023 ( SR = State Route ) and SR 4011 11 miles through New Columbus and Cambra, to Red Rock, where it followed SR 487 4 miles to Ricketts Glen State Park and departed from SR 487 for Long Pond. The route up Red Rock Mountain may not have followed the current SR 487, because the difference in elevation between the base of the mountain at Red Rock and the top of the mountain is over one thousand feet.

Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 02:30 PM.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

The pike was used primarily to move livestock from northern farms to population centers in the lower Susquehanna Valley; in addition, people transported heavy cargo of plaster and salt from the north and lime and iron from the south. Among the travelers were loggers on their way to the northern woods. It also helped large landowners of Sullivan and Bradford counties to open their areas to settlers.

The toll gate for this part of the road stood at the Watson Place at the top of the mountain, named for the first and only keeper. Watson was described as man 6 ft. 4 in. in stature and a deserter from the English Army during Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. Here he married, raised a family, managed a small farm and died about 1852.

Stages on this turnpike ran twice daily, leaving Berwick in the morning and stopping at the Long Pond Tavern for lunch and changing horses for the wild eight mile ride ahead called the Road of Hell on account of poor construction and very bad country it traverses, where stood Schrifogel's Hotel, where the passengers spent the night before proceeding on their journey, the stage south leaving Schrifogel's in the morning, lunching at Long Pond and arriving at Berwick in the evening.

Today's guest ought to proceed with caution.

Once on this part of SR 487 you will definitely feel you are on top of a high mountain range, the trees are shorter from fighting off the icy winter winds, the summer air is cooler among the six figure state forest and game land acreage. Over its history this has been the wilderness that provided lumber for the progress of American cities, each settlement had a saw mill, a tannery or woodworking operation making anything from clothes pins to furniture and the local lakes provided ice operations before there was refrigeration. In summer they were resorts for swimming and in fall they were hunting camps that kept the Reading and Northern Leigh Valley railroads busy beyond freight traffic. Out of this exploitation a new way of thinking emerged in eastern Pennsylvania by James Pinchot. His abhorrence of wastefulness made him a mainstay of the American Forestry Association, which sought as early as 1875 to halt the reckless destruction of natural resources by employing conservative management. With his wife, Mary, he endowed the Yale School of Forestry established in Milford in the Delaware Water Gap, east of our present journey. It was the first forest experiment station in the nation to encourage the reforestation of denuded lands that created the United States Forest Service that campaigned for sustainable development that made places like the Ricketts Glen State Park and local State Forest stewardship programs a grand legacy.

Civil War veteran, Colonel Robert Bruce Ricketts purchased the family stone home and land interests of 5,000 acres surrounding Long Pond known today as Ganoga Lake. He began buying additional warrants until in 1873 he controlled 66,000 acres (about 100 sq. miles).

Out of this wealth, The Trexler & Turrell Lumber Co. began operations by building a mill and creating the town of Ricketts in 1890, the Lehigh Valley Rail Road extending its line from Lopez for this purpose. This mill had a capacity of 75,000 ft. per day and contained a circular, band and gang saw and was undoubtedly the largest in this part of the country. The lumber operations continued for twenty-three years.They manufactured hemlock, spruce, maple, birch, cherry and beech lumber for all purposes. The spruce was considered one of the finest varieties ever sawed in this country.

Today, Ricketts is a ghost town with its foundations returning to the woods and abandoned roads that once were busy streets. Some are maintained for fire roads that lead to game management areas, public lakes and byways in and around Ricketts Glen State Park. There is also a narrow gauge railroad bed that provides a great GS riding opportunity to Noxen, the rest of the area is managed by the gate keepers, forest research, game management, U.S. military and FFA radar site maintenance roads, cell towers, right of way, private property and ventures.

It makes it rather daunting to take a dodgy Road to Hell, the Pike's route past Ganoga Lake. As in the old days of the toll house it is now a guard house for this private community high in the mountain air and deep forest. The State Government was out bid during its previous sale making it today an exclusive place and difficult to follow the historic Pike properly.

Main Street in Ricketts

There will be more on this part of the Pike in a forthcoming GS riding report. It is doable and since there maybe a larger interest than a stray quiet GS, I have managed to make contact with the Land Management turn keys and see if we can partner into an educational experience during the 2011 Rally.

Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 03:30 PM.
Reason: Photo added

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

Ricketts Glen State Park

Ricketts Glen State Park is a 13,000 plus acre National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth forest and 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek, that empties into Fishing Creek the borders of our Bloomsburg Rally site.

From 1822 to 1827 the Pike was built along the course of SR 487 The park's waterfalls were one of the main attractions for the lake hotel and stage stop from 1873 to 1903; the park is named for the hotel's proprietor, R. Bruce Ricketts.

By the 1890s Col. Ricketts made his fortune clearcutting almost all of that land, including much of what is now the park; however he preserved about 2,000 acres of virgin forest in the creek's three glens. If you wish to see what our land looked like prior to an axe and saw, stop and enjoy this place.

Plans to make Ricketts Glen a national park in the 1930s were ended by budget issues and the Second World War; Pennsylvania began purchasing the land in 1942 and fully opened Ricketts Glen State Park in 1944. The Benton Air Force Station, a Cold War radar installation in the park, operated from 1951 to 1975 and still serves as airport radar for nearby Wilkes-Barre and as the Red Rock Job Corps Center.

I recommended that this Park could be used as a Lake Carni, Vermont type of base camp prior to our Rally. I hope that there is a window of opportunity to fit our needs into this very popular July retreat. The park offers hiking, ten cabins, camping next to the lake, horseback riding, and hunting. Lake Jean is used for swimming, fishing, canoeing and kayaking.

There are plenty of motorcycle riding opportunities and other natural attractions not far away such as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and State Forest land offering lengthy GS travel and linking roads to our pavement touring culture. For the non-pre-rally event attendees this place is close to the Rally site. Its always in the top twenty places to see while visiting Pennsylvania.

Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 03:11 PM.
Reason: spelling

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

From Lake Ganoga, the Pike went directly to the Loyalsock Creek near SR-220 through heavy wooded and now controlled area by the gate keepers to about two miles west of Lopez. Through this area the Pike was only ten feet wide with two ruts that dealt with many tight traverses. In the swampy areas they laid logs down in a corduroy fashion to cut down on the number of stuck wagons and stages in mud, snow and ice. Beaver Dams were always an issue causing flooding on the Road to Hell.

For those on non-GS bikes and those wishing to stay off the fire roads and beyond continue on SR- 487 to Dushore.

Once a farm with an extended view of the tops of the mountains has become the Lopez Winery, its good wine in new bottles and I hope I live long enough to taste it aged.

Going past Lopez there is a quick reminder that there is NO OUTLET through town, the road is paved and then changes to dirt with a gate to the gamelands that is only open to the public during hunting season.

This little village today seems remote but it was once an important part of the mountain. When the Susquehanna and Tioga Turnpike was being built from Lake Ganoga to the Loyalsock Creek to the place where the village of Mildred is now located. A man by the name of Lopez went with the road builders and furnished room and board. He erected crude camps built of logs at different places as the work progressed. One of the camps was built on the bank of the unnamed creek. The builders called it Lopez Creek and town in his honor. Another story tells of an accident where a bridge gave way taking a freight wagon, horses and their driver to death, the driver was named Lopez.

Later the town was part of the Trexler-Turrell Lumber Company connecting it with the Ricketts operation. Lopez fast became a lumber mill town, there was a Kindling Wood operation and a Leigh Valley Rail Road Depot. During the Cold War the town was support for the Benton Air Force Base. Lopez was the only lumbering community in the area which allowed liquor to be sold; therefore, on pay day Lopez was watering hole of reputation for those from Ricketts and other nearby communities spending their hard earned money as quickly as they could drink it away. Even to this day there are residents that tell stories of the wild times on the mountains only to be replicated in today's hunting camps.

In 1902 the Murray Brothers came from Scranton and opened a mine which bore their name, and the development of the surrounding coalfields brought a return to prosperity since the wood ran out in the late 1800's. The breaker which the Murray's erected was one hundred sixty -five feet high, taller than any other in the anthracite field.

Along the way from Lopez through Mildred to Dushore you can see reminders of the coal fields among reclaiming forest and gated roads.

On SR-487 passing through Mildred is a large structure it is the former Keystone State Shoe Company owned and operated by Endicott-Johnson, owners of forty factories and eight tanneries located in Endicott, Johnson City, Binghamton and Owego, New York. This industry added materially to the local prosperity. One hundred and thirty men and women were employed there and made a moccasin type shoe, 240 dozen pairs were produced daily and shoe company benefited from the many local tanneries. Today its a clothing manufacturer shadowing a nice gas station and eatery shop.

We can follow the Pike again in Mildred for a short distance through Shinersville, but then one more short piece is lost to "No Trespass / Keep Out" signs, until another paved stretch brings it into Dushore.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

We have arrived in Dushore a another prosperous community built on lumber, the neighboring tanneries and a dairy industry getting to market by the Northern Branch of the Leigh Railroad. There are many store fronts that serve SR 220, 487, 87 and the communities along its route and can assist the needs of any traveler.

The Susquehanna Tioga Pike now follows SR 220 into New York State to Elmira.The land along the route of the turnpike was initially settled by the men who had worked to build the road; much of their pay was in the form of land along the right of way. Many of the settlers had been attracted by the huge hemlocks that grew in that vicinity so they expected that when the land was cleared it would be very fertile. I do not wish to continue on and get too far from our rally site. So I will now take SR 87 and the first of three roads pointing to Wylausing. Then join SR 187 northward on this side of the river then following the signs to the French Azylum.

This next leg of our journey we will visit what we call the Northern Tier and Endless Mountains of the northeast. Along the way we will stop by a former French settlement.

Dushore didn't come into its own till the mid 1850's but prior to this Arisite Aubert Dupetit Thouars spent some time here.

Aristide-Aubert Dupetit-Thouars was born in 1760 at Chateau de Boumois in France. He entered the French Navy in 1778 and gain early battle success and leadership early in his career. During his mid career he searched for the great French explorer La Perouse who was missing in the Pacific Ocean. While en route near Cape Verde he rescued forty marooned Portuguese sailors and was returning them home on his overcrowded and ill-provisioned ship that was infected by an epidemic. Nearly a third of his crew had died, and the remainder were suffering from fever. Authorities refused to believe his account of his request for medical assistance and seized his ship with its crew, and sent them to Pernambuco on the Brazilian coast, and eventually to Lisbon, where Dupetit-Thouars and his crew were imprisoned.

When Dupetit-Thouars was released in August 1793, he set out for Philadelphia. There he joined with other emigres from France, as well as French refugees from Santo Domingo that were setting out to found a French settlement in northeastern Pennsylvania. This site was called Asylum that consisted of 1600 acres of bottom land in a bend of the north branch of the Susquehanna River midway between Wylausing and Towanda. Three hundred acres were laid out as a town plot. In 1794, Dupetit-Thouars worked for the enterprise as supervisor of the construction of about thirty houses. Among the buildings was one referred to as La Grande Maison, and later as "The Queen's House", in the hope that Marie Antoinette and her children would somehow escape from France and come to occupy it.

In payment for his services to the Asylum enterprise, Dupetit-Thouars was given a three-hundred-acre piece of land nearly twenty miles south of Azylum. He build a log house, twelve feet square, and spent the winter of 1794-95 there, on the Little Loyalsock Creek, at what is now the town of Dushore. As a boy, Dupetit-Thouars had been greatly attracted by the situation of Robinson Crusoe, so he was delighted with the prospect of living on the land by his own ingenuity and following some of the principles of Rousseau. He built a cabin and had intended to invite his two sisters in France to join him there, but, although he did do some clearing, he did not stay permanently.

In early 1798, Dupetit-Thouars left Pennsylvania and returned to France to serve once again as a French naval officer, this time in Napoleon's Navy. His naval career and his life ended later that same year at the Battle of Aboukir..During that battle, his ship the Tonnant captured one British ship and destroyed another; but, in the end, Tonnant was dismasted and Dupetit-Thouars, who was badly wounded and refusing to surrender. He had the French flag nailed to the mast, and, at his death, his body was thrown overboard to avoid being taken by the British.

Dupetit-Thouars name was pronounced Twor, or Du Twor, the town name of Dushore is the Anglo version in his honor and it made it easier to be pronounced by the German immigrants working the area.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

We arrived to what was to be the New France that was founded by nobility. The site is even crescent shaped on an important river as is New Orleans and Montreal but this river is the mighty Susquehanna.

In 1793, during the French Revolution several French loyalists fled France and the French island of Santo Domingo ( present-day Haiti ) to escape persecution and death for their loyalty to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They landed on the shores of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where they met three prominent Philadelphia's, Robert Morris, John Nicholson and Stephen Girard who agreed to finance their stay in Pennsylvania. Stephen Girard purchased 1,600 acres in Northeastern Pennsylvania and gave it to the refugees.

The loyalists traveled up the Susquehanna River in Durham boats and dugout canoes. Durham boats were 60 feet long, eight feet wide, and could carry up to 12 tons of goods while requiring only 24 inches of water to float. They were pushed forward with long poles tipped in iron by a crew who walked along boards that ran the length of the boat on each side. A steersman with a 20-foot long sweep or steering oar controlled the boat, and a set of sails was used whenever possible.

When they arrived at their destination, they found the area pristine. The shining sun glistened off the water, they found their safe harbor and named it Asylum.

Today Cornell University academics are looking for broken dreams.

Last edited by Statdawg; 10-20-2010 at 02:43 PM.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

After the Queen’s death, the settlers remained in Asylum using the Queen’s home to entertain French nobles such as the Foreign Minister, Tallyrand and the future French king, Louis Phillipe. Soon the challenge of living in the Pennsylvania woods became too much for the French refugees, especially after two of the three men who agreed to finance their settlement filed for bankruptcy. With the ending of the Reign of Terror in France, some of the settlers returned to their home country while others decided to travel south to Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Two hundred and fourteen years later the only evidence of a settlement is the foundation of one of the buildings. However, in 1836, John LaPorte the son of one of the original French settlers built the LaPorte House on the grounds. Today visitors can tour the LaPorte House and see handhewn timbers, French wall decorations, hand-blown glass windows and a gazebo and herb garden. Visitors can also walk Asylum’s nature trail along the Susquehanna River to admire the home of Bald Eagles..

From there we travel to Wysox and take the famous Route 6 to the overlooks.Wysox both township and creek, is derived from the Indian word Wisachgimi, signifying “the place of grapes.” so it may have been a New France

Hawg Riders enjoy SR 6. The old road is just off to the lower right that once hugged a twisty cliff.

As part of the New Deal, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was established in 1935 to bring electric power to farms, thereby raising the standard of rural living and slowing the migration of farm workers to cities.They provided low-interest loans to construct power plants and power lines to rural areas, the project eventually equipped over 98% of U.S. farms with electricity and was the first time government began interferring with private citizens.

Also in nearby Towanda is a GE plant and further west on SR 6 is the site of first college football game played at night that occured on September 28, 1892 between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield University. The game ended in a scoreless tie at halftime due to the malfunctioning system

Other sites of historical interest is Camptown not far from the Susquehanna overlooks. The Camptown races inspired local song writer Stephen Foster who lived in Athens and Towanda. To me most of his music seemed so Western or Mississippi in origin thanks to the movie industry, but it was Pennsylvanian that was applicable everywhere by the Father of American Music.

While here you can still take the ride five miles long to Wyalusing on SR 706 or a new deal for twisties head north to Montrose on SR 706.

Last edited by Statdawg; 11-11-2010 at 04:09 AM.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance

Wyalusing before 1780 was home to many Native American tribes who were finally removed by Sullivan's Expeditions scorched earth policy. The new frontier settlement prospered as a river shipping hub for the logging industry and agricultural that continues today. Wyalusing is home to one of the biggest beef processing plants on the east coast, Cargill located just a couple miles outside of town on SR 706 which you will pass on our five mile ride from Camptown.

Many of the buildings were built in the 1800s to early 1920s are still part of Main Street. The food is very good at the historical Wyalusing Hotel and if the main dining room is closed proceed to the tavern down the alley right of the building.

Traveling east on Route 6, I always turn south in Mishoppin at this funny right turn at the towns only light. The left road leads one up a ridge and into another farming valley, one of my favorites climbs off of RT 6.. If you wish you could journey on to Tunkhannock, another historic river town on RT 6 and where the waters meet. The downtown is restored and prosperous offering good sightseeing and comfort to travelers. From there take RT 29 south to cross our path.

This part of Pennsylvania is experiencing an Natural Gas boom that will effect our nation for the next 100 years. There is a nice independent report here discusses the issues and shortcomings.

Mehoopany over the river and through the woods is my next destination, it is nice road cutting through beautiful farmland all to yourself. Just outside of town you will pass Proctor & Gamble the main employer that is benefiting from the logging industry and is now saving energy being converted to natural gas to boost their market share. This plant makes toilet paper and pampers. One of their employees was critical of the natural gas industry environmental history till I asked how many landfills has P&G filled.

Once you pass through the small town there is a road called Sugar Hollow, its a road that is known only by the locals as a short cut to get to P&G and it can be busy during shift change. But its also a great motorcycle road when they are on the clock to a point that its called the baby dragon by the sport riders. Some of the steep hollow twisties can cause some nice G's, but for a tourist the views are far better.

As you can see a very nice road and farmland. The road also becomes very narrow and windy. A deep snow pack run off during a heavy rainy day in January washed alot of the little bridges out and parts of the road, so the repairs make it dodgy in the hollow places, but still a joy. Once you reach the end you exit right on RT 29, taking RT 29 south gets you to RT 118 and 487 back to Bloomsburg. I am ending this long ride here so it doesn't conflict with another ride report. I hope you take this route to escape the our Rally Site.

If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least be a nuisance